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Food fest celebrates noodles

By Tiffany Feng
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Aug 22, 2001, Page 11

The Taipei Chinese Food Festival (台北中華美食展) will be held in the Taipei World Trade Center, Exhibition Hall 2, from tomorrow until Aug. 26. This four-day food exhibition will showcase special Chinese cuisine and traditional Chinese snacks.

The Taipei Chinese Food Festival celebrates its 12th anniversary this year with several exciting themes promoting the beauty of Chinese cuisine. This annual event provides the opportunity for Taiwan's food and beverage industry to showcase the latest trends, bring together prominent chefs to create new recipes, and endeavor to bring Chinese cuisine to the international stage.

This year the TCFF will feature healthy recipes and dishes that make use of natural ingredients which are both delicious and nutritious.

In addition to the delicious food, there are many activities and competitions during the four-day festival. In the Cooking Classrooms, professionals and amateurs compete in the culinary arts. Group and individual contests will be held. The Cocktail Contest will show you some mixers' magic or special tricks in cocktail mixing.

Some activities will involve visitors in games, such as using chopsticks to pick up longyans or lichees; painting with oyster sauce; shooting bird eggs into a basket; a beer drinking competition and so on. These special events will take place in Exhibition Hall 2 everyday during the festival.

Last year, the food festival chose seafood as the theme for its main pavilion and flower banquets for its special theme pavilion. This year TCFF has selected Chinese noodles for the main theme and mushroom cuisine as the special theme.

Noodles are the quintessential Chinese foodstuff. They come in a wide variety of shapes and textures such as lamien (拉麵), cat's ears (貓耳朵), shaved noodles (刀削麵), dough sticks served with soup (片兒湯) or noodle snacks like dumplings (餃子), shaomai (燒賣), wonton (餛飩), spring rolls (春捲), and steamed buns (饅頭).

Noodles are made from wheat, the staple food for people who live in the north of China. There are plenty of ways to cook noodles including steaming, boiling and frying. Lamien (拉麵) is made by drawing out the dough by hand. Chang Hung-yu (張鴻崳), the owner of the Lai Lai Lamien Restaurant (來來拉麵店), set a record by pulling 16,384 strands of noodles from one lump of dough. Each strand was thin enough to pass through the eye of a needle.

Cat's ears (貓耳朵) is a type of pasta from Hangzhou in China. As the name suggests, each piece is shaped like a cat's ear. Shaved noodles (刀削麵) are a famous dish from Shanxi Province. The dough is held in the palm of the hand and a sharp knife is used to shave off slices.

Tradition and innovation are one of the special themes of this year's festival. Over 100 types of mushrooms are grown in Taiwan, which were incorporated into the local diet early on. The many mushroom varieties on this island are all used for food or medicine.

Generally speaking, mushrooms are very nutritious and are full of proteins, minerals, vitamins and fiber, are low in calories and fats, and have become increasingly popular with people pursuing a healthy life. These mushrooms can lower blood pressure, prevent cancer and decrease the level of cholesterol in the blood.

The exhibition is a great way to learn more about these different types of food.

When: Aug. 23 to 26, 9:30am to 5pm

Where: CETRA Taipei World Trade Center, Exhibition Hall 2 (台北世貿二館) Address: 3 Sunglien Rd. (松廉路3號)

Admissions: NT$250 for adult; NT$150 for children, seniors and the disabled. For more information contact tel: 2568-4726 or visit the festival's Web site at http://www.shineyou.com/tcff
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